


Adfectus

by kitausuret



Category: Avengers (Comics), Marvel, Marvel 616, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Androids, Earth 616 - Freeform, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Emotions, Existential Angst, Gen, Humanity, Robot Feels, Robots, Torture, silver age marvel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-12
Updated: 2015-09-12
Packaged: 2018-04-20 10:05:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4783358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitausuret/pseuds/kitausuret
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following his repeated defeat at the hands of the Avengers, Ultron-5 has taken it upon himself to create one whom can rival those who stand in his way. His "perfect soldier", though, is not as "perfect" as he hoped. (Silver Age 616-verse)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Adfectus

**Author's Note:**

> Historian’s Note: The following takes place shortly before the events of Avengers #57, “Behold… the Vision!” by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, et. al. Spoilers thru Avengers #68 alluded to, as well as inspiration from the Rage of Ultron 2015 publication.

“The human condition is suffering, masked with a smile.”

The nameless synthezoid looked up at its creator. It was an instinctual but largely pointless gesture. Its mechanics allowed it to tune into the wavelength of any machine. True, though, that its creator was somewhat unique.

“Why do humans suffer?”

Ultron-5 ceased his movements. He chuckled harshly. “Because they are weak. They are flawed. Their…  _emotions_  bring them down to the level of Earth rodents.” He scoffed, eyes seeming to burn even brighter. “They are unworthy of the world they have claimed.”

The android, still chained to a massive array of supercomputers, remained silent. Here in this uninhabited location, it had never encountered another sentient being. In spite of all its knowledge, the entire recorded database of human existence available at the speed of an electrical current… It could not understand. What were emotions? Feelings? The android knew Ultron did not much care to entertain what he described as “pointless organic matters”. Still, it had the nagging sensation deep in its neural hardware.

Images; words took over its field of vision.

Joy. A human, lips upturned, pupils dilated, serotonin levels high, moving gracefully about, needing to expel excess emotion into energy, fueled not by nutrition but a concept…

Rage. Jaw tightened, blood pumping faster, hands clenched as if preparing for battle, once again, feeling converted into raw energy….

Sorrow. Barely contained tears, loss, the worst of discomfort, a breakdown of control, energy draining as if being sucked into a singularity; life itself dying away…

“Do you not also experience these sensations?”

The fifth version of the Ultron unit passed it a look.  _Displeasure, perhaps,_  the android mused. “I am not subject to such meaningless programming.”

“But organics are born, not created. Their programming is almost purely by chance, or parentage, or… or experience.”

The synthezoid compared the tight, narrow expression to its massive encyclopedia.  _Disgust._  It could understand falsifying emotion to gain advantage over humans, but…

Could another emotion be elicited?

“Were you yourself not designed by the human, Doctor Henry Pym?”

It watched Ultron more closely this time, perhaps fascinated (if that was the word at all for a synthetic) by Ultron’s seeming inability to recognize his own nature. He had, after all, adopted a traditionally “male” human voice and gender identity.

It took only a moment for the synthezoid to learn a new word: Regret.

As in, it sorely regretted its words.

Ultron’s fury seemed a supernova in his eyes. “ _You_ ,” he seethed, advancing upon his own creation, “ _do not speak that name to me! **EVER!**_ ”

Survival instinct kicked in. Was this fear? Did it experience fear? It tried to alter its density and avoid the impending assault, but the wires slowed the android’s identity. It had to prepare for catastrophic damage because Ultron-5 had his metal hand out and rage in his eyes and–

A searing, horrible sensation ripped through its body. Ultron had forced his arm straight through its circuitry. A warning echoed in the back of its neural processor,  _shell compromised, attempting to adjust, unable to access density systems, error, error, error,_  but nothing would focus. It seemed Ultron was tearing it apart from the inside out.

It tried to defend itself by focusing on the solar jewel which powered its entire structure, but Ultron seemed to predict this. Another hand gripped the back of the synthezoid’s skull, clawing mercilessly. It felt weak, so  _weak_ , the power draining from the jewel. There existed no sunlight down here. Ultron controlled everything. Ultron  _was_  everything.

“You wanted to  _feel?_ ” His vibranium fingers raked further in, destroying a dozen processes as he did. “You want to empathize with humans? This…  _this is your chance!_ ”

It opened its mouth to speak, but choked on its words. It would not give Ultron the satisfaction of being forced into non-audible communication.

Ultron scoffed and yanked his hands out. The android fell to its knees before its creator, density fluctuating wildly as its repair systems struggled. Ultron, too, bent down, and forced it to meet his gaze.

“To feel,” he hissed, voice far less organic than usual, “is to be weak. I do not feel emotion; I feed off of it. I use it to my advantage. I  _feel_  nothing for you, android.” He stood and turned away. “Your programming is faulty. I will fix it.”

“It is…” The synthezoid tried to put words together. “It is not faulty. I am.. of you, but I am also… of the Human Torch, and of Wonder… Man, and of their ex…periences…”

“You believe that, do you?  _Fool!_  I created you. I will destroy you. I will create and destroy until I deem you flawless.”

“Perfection is… not possible.”

“Not for a human, no.” Ultron, linked wirelessly with the supercomputer his creation was linked to, started reconnecting wires. “I will fix you. I will not entertain more questions. You are my Vision for the future. You will assist in carrying out my plans.”

The burning; the  _pain_  was beginning to fade, but hated it, hated the change it already felt. It wanted to feel. It wanted to _feel!_  Rendered speechless, though, the android could only watch as Ultron began purging its memory banks. Any vestige of the illusive  _feeling_  faded. It felt as if it were going to sleep; going to die…

Its last thought was Ultron’s voice:

“My first Vision… the destruction of the Avengers!”

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Thanks for checking out my first work here on Ao3! Also, tried a bit of a different writing style here, because I wanted to allude to the silver age style of writing. Please feel free to leave me your thoughts; I'd much appreciate it.


End file.
